he immense support of social media is apparent. Locals are tweeting and re-tweeting articles and links about facts that make Dubai an ideal candidate for a host city. The Spanish football team, too, recently put in their vote for Dubai. A World Expo in Dubai in 2020 would be the first to be held in the Menasa (Middle East, North Africa and South Asia) region.
Infrastructure wise, the already swank hotels are priming themselves. One of the busiest global transits the Dubai airport is getting a makeover.
First Middle Eastern expo
Expo 2020 will likely represent a first no matter which city wins. If Dubai wins the Expo bid, it will be the first Middle Eastern expo. Expo 2020 will be the first Russian worlds fair if Yekaterinburg wins. A Sao Paulo victory would make it the first worlds fair in South America and Latin America as well as the first in the Western Hemisphere in 34 years and the first in the Southern Hemisphere in 32 years.
Once the new Al Maktoum International Airport at the Dubai World Central in Jebel Ali is ready, it is slated to surpass records. With an eventual capacity of 160 million passengers per year, the airport will trump London Heathrow to become the largest in the world.
So when an article in the New York Times tipped its hat towards Dubai, there was much excitement online, with everyone sharing that piece. According to the NYT article: "Dubai, which would be the first host of a worlds fair in the Middle East, has emerged as the frontrunner, offering the most financial and governmental support." The advantage Dubai has is evident in terms of its sheer geographic positioning, of it being from certain standpoints and quite literally, the centre of the world.
The political unrest in Russia and Turkey it is said will hurt the chances of Yekaterinburg and Izmir. The buzz is that the city least likely to win the bid is São Paulo. Its a matter of great interest that all the bidders for the 2020 World Expo come from emerging markets. Results will be out in November when the approximately 100 delegates of the exposition bureaus General Assembly vote in November.
Counting down from today, only 52 days are left until the vote.
The Dubai expo bid online has 37,382 followers. And the power of social media is all too apparent with the page having swung 632,262 Likes
Facebook shares, Twitter re-tweets and constant advertorial reminders of the citys greatness apart, there is also a video testimony of Bill Gatess support for Dubai.
"When I was a child," says Gates, "I got to go to the world expo in 1962 in my hometown Seattle" there was lot of great technology there, was very inspirational" Expos let people see new innovation, gets people excited, participate in life, bring people together, get us dreamy and so expos are a great institution."
He then states how the UAE is so far ahead in the global race: "UAE has taken its success and is willing to invest in new learning, new innovation € great to see that kind of long term approach is part of how its taking its success and becoming a hub for people from different regions".
Acknowledging the power of social media Gates said: "The digital world is magical but I dont think its going to replace meetings and expos € not anytime during my life time.
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